One thing that surprised me about the meeting, though perhaps it shouldn't have, was the extraordinary level of public support for the merits of Margery Sable's reformist agenda for the schools. There's no way to know for sure whether the opinions expressed in the meeting are representative of what's being said throughout the town as a whole, but I'll go out on a limb and say they are -- based on seeing both "Blue" and "Red" neighbors in attendance, as well as parents of high schoolers, parents of elementary school kids, and residents whose kids have long since moved on. The broad message here is that even out there in Pittsburgh's Pleasantville, the locals are fed up with the complacency of local politicians.

If that's true, then I suspect that these suburbanites are feeling a very small measure of the frustration that city residents have known for a long time. We'll see if they have any more success in getting what they want, and what the community needs.